EVERYDAY PRACTICES OF CITIZENS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: RUSSIAN AND FOREIGN EXPERIENCE

Abstract

Based on the results of Russian and foreign sociological research, the article analyzes the changes that have occurred in the daily practices of residents of large cities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data of individual interviews conducted by the author with representatives of post-Soviet youth about their daily practices and adaptation strategies in lockdown conditions are presented. It is shown that for many urban residents in Russia and abroad, staying in self-isolation has become a time of not only limitations, but also new opportunities. For some people, this has become a time of learning useful everyday online practices (creative, educational, leisure, labor, communication, etc.) that they would like to leave in their lives after the pandemic. Some of the townspeople (especially the young ones) were involved in various forms of social activism and volunteering. It is noted that the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the many negative consequences it has caused, has an unusual positive emergent effect - in general, it has helped revitalize some aspects of public life and provided an impetus for the development of everyday social practices; this effect is especially noticeable in large cities where quarantine regimes were the most stringent. The author believes that the effective experience of youth adaptation to the new coronavirus everyday life and similar unexpected crisis phenomena can be useful for representatives of older generations.